STAFF REPORT LHR: Keeping in view the importance of energy conservation for the progress of Pakistan, two students of engineering at the University of Management and Technology (UMT) manufactured a solar model plane.

Named as Shams One, the solar plane was manufactured by Abdul Mateen and Syed Muhammad Junaid, students of School of Engineering at UMT.

Shams One is a remote control (RC) device, which can fly without any fuel but using solar energy stored in a battery. The plane has eight-hour flight timing and a range up to 1,000 feet.

While describing the features of the device, one of the students, Junaid said that that it is not the first solar airplane ever designed, but it is certainly the most ambitious. “None of its predecessor models has ever managed to fly right through the air with only one motor on board,” he said.

“In the first round, we are planning to fly Shams One high above the Arabian Sea and around the world,” said Junaid, adding that taking off and landing on the biggest international airports with an experimental aircraft will connect Pakistan to the rest of the world.